Monday, December 29, 2008

On Monday, toxic coal sludge burst through a retention wall in eastern Tennessee, causing massive property and environmental damage. Federal studies have shown that coal ash contains “significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems.” The incident — already being called the “largest environmental disaster of its kind in the United States” — may now be even worse than originally anticipated. Tennessee Valley Authority officials “initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled” in the disaster. Yesterday, however, they “released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep.”

30 comments:

ya know,I'm not an overly religious person but it occurs to me that there's been a fair amount of 'natural' voices happening lately, and if I were to interpret God's wrath, I'd have to wonder if He was making a point to the Republican thugs that have so abused this globe.

I'm thinking back to the hurricanes, the floods, the weather at the RNC convention, the smackdown of the EPA with this sludge flood that most certainly is a blackeye on the EPA and their ilk. (Of course that's after the million peoplefolk in Tennessee see their lives polluted)

And just for fun I'll toss in Obama's platform of infrastructure rebuild whereupon we then see the water main infrastructure burst with screaming people floating down the street.

Talking about toxic sludge. Ann Coulter is back, with the help of NBC, to sell another book of hate.

Despite her long and well-documented history of controversial statements, NBC has once again reportedly invited Coulter to promote her latest book on its airwaves. Coulter announced that she is scheduled to appear on the January 6, 2009, broadcast of NBC's Today.

Enough is enough. Even NBC-affiliated hosts and anchors have expressed disgust over some of Coulter's more offensive rhetoric, yet they continue to promote her.

It is time to make NBC accountable. Call NBC and ask why they are reportedly again helping Coulter promote her latest book despite her history of reprehensible comments.

Seems like Obama is gonna have all bu$h disaster's at his footsteps. Just where the hell is Condi and bu$h on Israel. Yes, they were getting attacked by Hamas... don't you think one day of bombing and 200 dead made up for 1 dead Israeli? Seems like bu$h is allowing the Israeli's carte-blanche!

And everyone questioned and laughed at Biden when he said Obama would be tested when he took office. Poor man faces the worst economic and foreign fuck ups in American History!!He did want the job however...

Christ, Ann Coulter again... (forgive me ladies) she needs a dick in her mouth to shut her up! I'm certainly not volunteering.

Remember when she told Matt Lauer that the 9/11 widows were "tragedy whores" - or some such other BS like that? I am having a hard time remembering the actual quote because it was so disgusting.

You know...I could stop eating and write a bunch of hate filled crap and wear a black evening dress on morning TV...I could play her game and make a shitload of money; except I can't. I can't because I have a soul and it will not allow me to do the shit that she does.

I thought that she had disappeared. Damn.

AND - as for the Tennessee sludge that will ruin people's lives for generations, when will these big bizness assholes learn that cutting corners does.not.pay?!

It really does not pay. The clean up of this mess will take years and years and many people will die and be ill as a result of this. Yet, I am sure, that the big coal guys will continue to cut corners and try to save a buck by ignoring safety regs.

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzies. I have never seen people enjoying their husbands’ death so much."

well, if oil is at $200 a barrel, it starts to pencil out. At $45 not so much. But the argument is still in play as long as we don't have anything else up and going to replace it. It's big money and their idea of affordable is what middle class backs will bear.

Super expensive. Not sure if "it's not really worth it"... obviously they're going to say it's all experimental for now.

I have a buddy who moved from the Front Range to Rifle to work for Shell in Water Treatment. He couldn't turn down the money... 30 bones an hour, he used to make only 18. Now I know what he's doing.

This will be a big test for new Interior Sec. Salazar... former Water attorney and Colorado Attorney General. He's such a moderate... I don't trust him. However, it's his area of expertise but also a lot of other politicians as well, like Kyl of AZ. I see a big pushback coming from what was given away during the bu$h years to what needs to be recovered in the coming years.

Al Gore mandated in the 90s that we build more coal plants instead of nuclear power. This is the result. Coal is so much dirtier than nuclear or anything else. Thank you, Al. How many people and how many animals have you poisoned? Shame on you.

Out of town. Using iPhone. Can't copy and paste on this. Will provide link this weekend. But Clinton put gore in charge of energy during the 90s. If he had aggressively built nuclear power many coal and natural gas plants would not have been builtand existing ones shut down. Gore is partly to blame for carbon emission increases.

And china and India are not inventing clean coal. They are building tons of new nuclear power plants. I guess they're just smarter than the US.

Poor Muck. He really does believe that Hannity and Limbaugh are "sources" of information. Heh.

Nuclear is not a solution.

The risks and the waste are not worth it. Not to mention that we the people are the only source of insurance for the plants because they cannot get private insurance from anyone. Nuclear is a dumb move and a bad one.

Especially when one considers that Natural, Renewable, Non Toxic sources of energy are plentiful.

Why would anyone want to spend 20 years building a toxic waste dump for power when wind and sun and geothermal and tide power, etc are easy and immediate?